The Internet has helped to enrich our lives in many ways, however, it has also provided child predators with a new way to reach potential victims and commit crimes.

Sixty-one percent of 13-17 year olds have a personal profile on a social networking site and half have also posted pictures of themselves. Teen girls are particularly at risk – of 1 in 7 youth who received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet, 70 percent were girls.

The goal of the third year of the Online Sexual Exploitation PSA campaign is to make teen girls aware of the potential dangers of sharing and posting personal information online and of communicating with unfamiliar people to help reduce their risk of sexual victimization and abduction. The PSAs direct teen girls to “Think Before You Post,” and as with the previous two years, ask viewers and listeners to visit www.cybertipline.com, to get tips on how to prevent, detect, and report suspicious online behavior.

The campaign also includes two previous rounds of PSAs. The first round, which launched in May 2004, targeted parents and guardians to raise awareness of the potential dangers online and to educate them about what they could do to protect their children. The creative encouraged them to “Help Delete Online Predators”. The second round, which launched the following year, targeted teens in an effort to warn them of the dangers of forming “blind” relationships online and used the tagline, “Don’t Believe the Type.”

An interactive, fast-paced game, ID the Creep, was also created to mimic communications that teens might encounter online in chat rooms, IM, or emails. Players are challenged to look for clues in messages from people online that might indicate a certain person might not be friendly. As in the real world, sometimes the clues are obvious and sometimes they are subtle. The game creates an extremely relevant, but safer environment for teens to become more aware of potential dangers online.